My Story

I will start by giving you thanks for taking the time to read my update. I walk for thirty minutes to arrive to the feeding program. I am Juan Rafael but everybody affectionately calls me Juanito. I am 14 years old and my birthday was in May. I take classes in my village and I am a fifth-grade student. My school is about thirty minutes away from my home. I love Communication and Language but Mathematics is a little difficult for me. Since Covid-19 affected our country, my school is closed.  My mother has to pick up some worksheets for me in a photocopier place in order to continue learning at home.

The people who live in the house are my parents, siblings and me. My father works as a blacksmith and thanks to God, he was not affected with the pandemic situation. On the other hand, my mother was fired and she is now at home doing the household chores. We are members of the Catholic Church and since our church is closed too, we are just praying at home. I am grateful to God because we all are in good health. In spite of the hard health situation that we are currently facing in our country, our Lord has been taking care of us. We trust in our Lord's mercy and that He will put His healing hands over all people who are suffering during this pandemic. I would like to receive a letter from you and have the opportunity to share our life experiences with each other.

Thinking of you!

Juan Rafael Zuleta Cruz

AAC NOTE: After the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in our country (March 13, 2020), our President ordered the closure of all the schools in order to prevent children becoming affected by this virus. We do not know when the schools will open again.  However, most of the schools are assigning homework to their students to cover the content for the current school year. As a team, we are praying that God takes control of this situation soon so that we may continue on with our lives.

Translated by: Mireya de Sandoval, AAC Secretary/Antigua